RIM Partners with Will.i.am

Research In Motion has announced a partnership with hip hop artist Will.i.am, as part of the company’s continued efforts to move into the consumer space. Under the agreement, RIM will make Will.i.am's Dipdive online community and content available on BlackBerrys.

RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie told Reuters that the “two hottest trends in wireless” are social networking and multimedia content, which he said consumers frequently view as separate experiences. RIM sees Will.i.am’s Dipdive as an example of how the two trends are converging.

Dipdive is a grassroots online community supporting Barrack Obama’s campaign, including Will.i.am’s popular “Yes We Can” collage-style music video inspired by Obama’s campaign speeches. Obama’s campaign, however, was not involved with the production of the music video.